Get United States Women's National Soccer Team essential facts below. View Videos or join the United States Women's National Soccer Team discussion. Add United States Women's National Soccer Team to your Like2do.com topic list for future reference or share this resource on social media.

The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) is governed by United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football). The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning three Women's World Cup titles (including the first ever Women's World Cup in 1991), four Olympic women's gold medals, seven CONCACAF Gold Cup wins, and ten Algarve Cups.[1] It medaled in every single World Cup and Olympic tournament in women's soccer history from 1991 to 2015, before being knocked out in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Olympics, after a penalty shoot-out.

After being ranked No. 2 on average from 2003 to 2008 in the FIFA Women's World Rankings,[2] the team was ranked No. 1 continuously from March 2008 to November 2014,[3] falling back behind Germany, the only other team to occupy the No. 1 position in the rankings' history. The team dropped to 2nd on March 24, 2017, due to its last-place finish in the 2017 SheBelieves Cup, then returned to 1st on June 23, 2017, after victories in friendlies against Russia, Sweden, and Norway.[4] The team was selected as the U.S. Olympic Committee's Team of the Year in 1997 and 1999,[5] and Sports Illustrated chose the entire team as 1999 Sportswomen of the Year for its usual Sportsman of the Year honor.[6] On April 5, 2017, U.S. Women's Soccer and U.S. Soccer reached a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement that among other things, would lead to a pay increase.[7]

History

1990s

The U.S. team's first major victory came at the 1991 World Championship (retroactively named the 1991 Women's World Cup). The U.S. cruised to lopsided victories in the quarterfinals and semifinals, before defeating Norway 2-1 in the final. Michelle Akers was the team's leading scorer with 10 goals, including both of the team's goals in the final; and Carin Jennings won the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player.

Julie Foudy, Kristine Lilly, and the 1999 team started a revolution towards women's team sports in America. Arguably their most influential and memorable victory came in the 1999 World Cup when they defeated China 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out following a 0-0 draw after extended time.[9] With this win they emerged onto the world stage and brought significant media attention to women's soccer and athletics. On July 10, 1999, over 90,000 people (the largest ever for a women's sporting event and one of the largest attendances in the world for a tournament game final) filled the Rose Bowl to watch the United States play China in the Final. After a back and forth game, the score was tied 0-0 at full-time, and remained so after extra time, leading to a penalty kick shootout. With Briana Scurry's save of China's third kick, the score was 4-4 with only Brandi Chastain left to shoot. She scored and won the game for the United States. Chastain famously dropped to her knees and whipped off her shirt, celebrating in her sports bra, which later made the cover of Sports Illustrated and the front pages of newspapers around the country and world.[10] This win influenced girls to want to play soccer on a team.[11]

At the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, the U.S. defeated England 3-0 in the quarterfinals, but then suffered its most lopsided loss in team history when it lost to Brazil 0-4 in the semifinals.[13] The U.S. recovered to defeat Norway to take third place. Abby Wambach was the team's leading scorer with 6 goals, and Kristine Lilly was the only American named to the tournament's all-star team.

2010s

In the quarterfinal of the 2011 Women's World Cup in Germany, the U.S. defeated Brazil 5-3 on penalty kicks. Abby Wambach's goal in the 122nd minute to tie the game 2-2 has been voted the greatest goal in U.S. soccer history and the greatest goal in Women's World Cup history.[14][14][15]" The U.S. then beat France 3-1 in the semifinal, but lost to Japan on penalty kicks in the 2011 Final. Hope Solo was named the tournament's best goalkeeper, and Abby Wambach won the silver ball as the tournament's second best player.

In the 2012 Summer Olympics, the U.S. won the gold medal for the fourth time in five Olympics by defeating Japan 2-1 in front of 80,203 fans at Wembley Stadium, a record for a women's soccer game at the Olympics.[16] The United States advanced to face Japan for the gold medal by winning the semifinal against Canada, a 4-3 victory at the end of extra time.[17] The 2012 London Olympics marked the first time the USWNT won every game en route to the gold medal and set an Olympic women's team record of 16 goals scored.[17]

The USA defeated Japan 5-2 in the final of the 2015 World Cup, becoming the first team in history to have won three Women's World Cup titles. Carli Lloyd achieved the fastest hat-trick from kick-off in World Cup history, and Abby Wambach was greeted with a standing ovation for her last World Cup match.[22] Following their 2015 World Cup win, the team was honored with a ticker tape parade in New York City, the first for a women's sports team. Sports Illustrated celebrated them with 25 covers of the magazine.[23] President Barack Obama welcomed them to the White House, stating, "This team taught all of America's children that 'playing like a girl' means you're a badass," before going on to say, "'playing like a girl' means being the best."[24][25]

On December 16, 2015, however, a 0-1 loss to China meant the team's first home loss since 2004, ending their 104-game home unbeaten streak.[26]

In the 2016 Olympics, the U.S. drew against Sweden in the quarter-finals; in following the penalty kick phase, Sweden won the game 4-3. The loss marked the first time that the USWNT did not advance to the gold medal game of the Olympics, and the first time that the USWNT failed to advance to the semifinal round of a major tournament.[27]

The 1999 World Cup final set the original record for largest US television audience for a women's soccer match with 18 million viewers on average[35][36] and was the most viewed English-language US broadcast of any soccer match until the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Final between the United States and Japan.[37]

The 2015 Women's World Cup Final between the USA and Japan was the most watched soccer match - men's or women's - in American broadcast history.[38] It averaged 23 million viewers and higher ratings than the NBA finals and the Stanley Cup finals.[38][39] The final was also the most watched US-Spanish language broadcast of a FIFA Women's World Cup match in history.

Overall, there were over 750 million viewers for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, making it the most watched Women's World Cup in history. The FIFA Women's World Cup is now the second most watched FIFA tournament, with only the men's FIFA World Cup attracting more viewership.[40]

Attendance

The 1999 World Cup final, in which the USA defeated China, set a world attendance record for a women's sporting event of 90,185 in a sellout at the Rose Bowl in California.[41] The record for Olympic women's soccer attendance was set by the 2012 Olympic final between the USWNT and Japan, with 80,023 spectators at Wembley Stadium.[42]

Player records

As of November 12, 2017 . Active players are shown in Bold.

The women's national team boasts the first six players in the history of the game to have earned 200 caps.[] These players have since been joined in the 200-cap club by several players from other national teams. as well as by five more Americans: Kate Markgraf, Abby Wambach, Heather O'Reilly, Carli Lloyd and Hope Solo. Kristine Lilly and Christie Rampone are the only players to earn more than 300 caps.

In March 2004, two stars, Mia Hamm and Michelle Akers were the only two women and the only two Americans named to the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living soccer players chosen by Pelé as part of FIFA's centenary observances.